I dare say that price will drop after a short while which seems to be the norm with new DSLR releases when they get to the retailers, but considering your "relationship" with Sony I don't think anyone would blame you if you switched brands... you'll pay more for the D300 though, around £1100.

Hmmm, seems Sony's playing the overprice card again! Don't get me wrong, I like Sony (and have a couple of their rather nice laptops) but they do seem to play the 'pay over the odds' card! Having said that, the A700, if it performs as well as they claim will be worth the money, I reckon (if only for the 4 stops, ISO and noise)